Finn's Sigenergy Batteries Review & Verdict
Finn Peacock has been a Chartered Electrical Engineer since 1998, and is ex-CSIRO
Sigenergy's SigenStor battery is one of the more interesting systems to be unleashed on the home energy storage market.
It's a modular system where all the components (except the AC EV charger) are installed by dropping them onto the module stack, whether that's a:
- 8 kWh battery
- 5 kWh battery
- 1ph Solar Inverter
- 3ph Solar Inverter
- DC EV Charger
Whether you choose single or 3 phase, the whole thing will run happily off-grid, out of the box as long as you've sized it appropriately and have installed their Gateway.
While a new company, Sigenergy is headed by Tony Xu, who was with Huawei for 23 years – nearly 10 years of that as president of the Fusionsolar division.
The SigenStor battery is impressive. It's definitely worth considering and despite the newness, is SolarQuotes-recommended after closely examining the hardware and talking with the sparkies who are installing it.
Sigenergy Batteries: Pros & Cons
- Sensibly priced
- Modular, expandable
- Single- and three-phase models available
- Blackout protection
- Grid connect or off-grid
- Well supported
- Very detailed monitoring
- Installation may be a bit fiddly in terms of fixings
About Sigenergy
Sigenergy is a newcomer to the solar energy storage market - and the company's flagship SigenStor battery is an intriguing solution.
Australian Office Contact Details
Address: Suite 02, Level 7, 191 Clarence Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Tel. (Sales): 0400 108 934
Tel. (Support): 0452 417 654
Email (Sales): [email protected]
Email (Support): [email protected]
Australian website
Company Info
Sigenergy was founded in early 2022 by ex-Huawei solar division president Tony Xu. While the firm has only been around for a couple of years, it boasts 600+ employees; 70% of who are R&D personnel. The company has an 8,000 square metre facility in China housing its global headquarters and all those R&D folks.
Sigenergy's battery manufacturing plant is a 20,000 square metre factory located in the Lin-gang New Area in Shanghai, which has an annual production capacity of 6 GWh. In an effort to "green" its operations, Sigenergy has installed a 3,000 square metre (capacity not noted) solar system on the factory's rooftop.
SigenStor Solar Battery Highlights
Sigenergy introduced the SigenStor to the Australian market in 2023. The company claims the SigenStor is the first "five-in-one" energy storage system. It combines:
- a PV hybrid inverter
- battery pack
- battery PCS (Power Conversion System)
- Optional EV DC charger module - V2X "ready" (bidirectional charging)
- EMS (Energy Management System)
The batteries are available as single phase models in 5kW, 6kW, 8kW and 10kW AC ratings, with 2, 3 or 4 MPPT inputs. In three-phase, it's available in 5kW, 10kW, 15kW, and 25kW AC ratings, with 2, 3 or 4 MPPT solar inputs. There are 5kWh and 8kWh battery packs available, which are stackable to six units high (up to 48kWh capacity). Additionally, further parallel capacity can be added.
The SigenStor offers blackout protection, with a very quick switchover time - 5-millisecond switching to backup mode. When grid power is restored, the system transitions back within 0 milliseconds. When installed as a battery hybrid (requiring a fee-based firmware upgrade), a gateway is available for full home backup.
On the EV charging front, it's capable for DC EV fast charging at 12.5kW or 25kW capacity. AC EV charging can be carried out at 7kW, 11kW (3-phase) or 22kW (3-phase) with dynamic control.
AI is also integrated into the SigenStor, which polls the battery every ten seconds. The app can be instructed using AI-powered chat. And just on the app, it offers very detailed monitoring - providing information as granular as individual cell voltages and temperatures.
As for VPP support, SigenStor has been integrated with several VPP platforms in Australia, with more to come.
The SigenStor has an IP66 rating; so it's suited to outdoor installation. It has an operating temperature range of -20°C to 55°C according to the datasheet and the warranty document confirms it can't be operated outside of -20°C to 55°C ambient temperature.
SigenStor Safety Features
In addition to using LFP (lithium-iron phosphate) battery cells - a very stable Li-ion chemistry - the SigenStor has five layers of protection:
- Multiple advanced temperature sensors monitored by AI.
- Internal fire suppression system - aerosol based, claimed to extinguish fires within 4 seconds.
- Decompression valve.
- Aerogel-insulated pads between cells to prevent spread of heat.
- High-temperature-resistant insulation.
The above really only scratches the surface - for a deep-dive into this battery, check out SQ's Anthony's post on SigenStor. You can also see estimated pricing and compare specs with other home energy storage solutions on SQ's solar battery comparison table.
Warranty Information
The SigenStor has a 10-year product warranty on the battery and energy controller, and 2 years on the gateway, power sensor and communications modules. Sigenergy warrants that the battery system will retain either 70% of usable capacity at year 10 or for a minimum energy throughput of 15.85MWh for the 5kWh module or 23.77MWh for the 8kWh; whichever comes first.
An important point to note is a warranty exclusion - it can't be installed in coastal areas within 500 meters of the coastline.
Conclusion
We've been impressed by what we've seen and heard so far about the SigenStor and Sigenergy; and it's currently an SQ-recommended battery. If you have installed one, please leave a rating and review.
Images from customers
Sigenergy has no solar batteries in our database
Filter by:
Sigenergy Reviews (5)
Show Most Relevant reviews from All time
- 5 star 5
- 4 star 0
- 3 star 0
- 2 star 0
- 1 star 0
View Timeline
21 October 2024
Manufacturer Reply
Hi Bob!Great to hear you had a good experience with Solar Pro Bendigo - i got to meet them in person for the first time last week at All Energy in Melbourne and they are a top bunch of lads!
Thanks for the 5 star review - it really means alot!
Panel Brand
Installed By
04 November 2024
Panel Brand
Installed By
08 July 2024
Not only does it have brilliant real time access to control the system, it is also on the list of systems integrated with the Evergen platform which allows me to make good use of spot pricing. That means the system will quickly pay for itself by allowing me to fill the battery quickly when power prices are low, and then sell the same power back to the grid later that day when prices are high.
The “backup” feature offers 0 ms switch over, and although I haven’t suffered an actual blackout, brute force testing by flipping the circuit breaker confirmed that the house and appliances (including critical IT devices) were blissfully unaware that they were no longer connected to the grid. With two 8 kw batteries the system will, and does, happily pump out 8 kw to the house - more than enough for the average house I would think (although I would suggest turning off non critical devices if you want the battery to last more than an hour or two).
The build quality surprised not only me, but the electricians, and the system is technologically interesting enough that those in the know come to look and check it out
Knowing I can add more batteries within a few minutes by slotting them into the assembly, almost like large Lego blocks, adds to the comfort of knowing I made a good choice.
The system is only new, so I can’t speak to ongoing performance and reliability, but it has ten years warranty (which is clearly listed with date in the app) so I should have nothing to worry about.
If you are looking for the latest generation of Solar and Storage equipment that solves todays energy problems, and probably tomorrows as well, I recommend you take a good long look at Sigenergy. My experience tells me you will be glad you did,
Manufacturer Reply
Hi MikeThanks for your detailed review, we are very happy to hear that you are putting many of our innovative features to good use!
06 October 2024
Installed by Jess and her team at Elevate solar. I highly recommend you contact elevate solar. Great service and brilliant after sales service. Very responsive and deliver on their promises.
18 October 2024
Manufacturer Reply
Hi LanceThanks for choosing Sigenergy. Very happy to hear you're liking the system!
If you have any further questions feel free to join our AU Facebook group. Just search for "Sigenergy End Users - Australia & NZ"